Frankie and Hobbes
by PurpleRose15
Summary: After that fateful day in third grade, Calvin's life changed forever. Now, 15 years later,Hobbes is ready to meet Calvin's six year old daughter. Together they'll invent sports games, terrorize the babysitters, avoid the new boy in class, and get into trouble. A series of mini stories combined into one.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys. Just a brief note: I realize there is a good chunk of text missing somehow in the first part of the prologue. Suddenly Hobbes is asking about a girl out of nowhere. Let's just presume that Calvin has just mentioned a girl that he and his best friend have been trying to impress and has mentioned it to Hobbes. I would edit it in, but FanFiction doesn't let me copy and paste so I'd have to retype the entire chapter. Just use your best Calvin-like imagination! It must have been that way for months and I failed to notice. Many apologies. Hopefully, that is the only thing missing...?**

 **I should probably write something else so this is worth including. You'll notice I include author's notes after each story, even if small. You don't have to read them but I put them in anyway. Just a little background information and stuff like that.**

 **Sorry to interrupt. Let the story commence!**

Another long day had come and gone for third grader Calvin. That would mean getting off the bus, going to his room, picking up a comic, and watching TV until his brains fell out. Maybe if he was lucky, his new friend Jason would come by to play the new video game that just came out. But as he was picking up the latest issue of Captain Napalm, a familiar sight greeted him.

"Calvin! You're home!"

"What the-" Calvin was instantly knocked off his feet and onto the ground. "Hobbes!"

"Hey buddy! Where have you been lately? Why didn't you come looking for me?" said Hobbes.

"Ugh," Calvin muttered, picking himself up. "I'm sorry. I think Mom must have put you away somewhere after you were done in the wash. I'm so glad you're back!"

"But that was three weeks ago," said Hobbes. "Maybe you can remind her not to put me with all those towels next time. They make my fur all squicky."

Calvin didn't stop to wonder about why it had been so long since he'd last seen his tiger friend.

"A nice girl?" Hobbes said. "Just recently you said she was a slimy girl and chased her away with pinecones!"

"Well, she's not that bad," Calvin replied. "Jason's been hanging out with her a lot lately, and he introduced her to me some more. Did you know she likes Captain Napalm too? I even taught her to play Calvinball!"

"Really? Hot dog!" said Hobbes. "Maybe you can introduce her to me sometime."

"Well, no offense, but I doubt that Susie would much be interested in a stuffed tiger."

Hobbes' face fell. "Is that what I am to you? A stuffed tiger?"

Calvin cringed. "No, that's…that's not what I meant at all!"

"So explain to me why we haven't spoken in the last three weeks."

Calvin sighed. "I'm sorry. I've just been so busy with school and all. Did you know that if I get an A in history, I'll make the honor roll?"

There was a knock on Calvin's door. "Calvin, your father and I are going out tonight," his mother said. "We've hired Amy to babysit, and I expect you to be good. It might not be a good time to have your friends over."

"Ok, Mom," said Calvin. "Besides, I have to work on this history report."

Hobbes gasped. "You have to work on a history report? Why can't we do something fun? We could find a new way to terrorize Rosalyn tonight. Oh boy!"

"No offense, Hobbes, but I really need to work," said Calvin. "And Rosalyn's in college now, so Amy comes over. Why don't we go out and play Calvinball before she gets here?" He narrowed his eyes. "And since when were you so interested in pranking our babysitters?"

The two went outside to run around, but Calvin didn't have as much fun as he used to. He was out of ideas for rules, and found himself wishing that Jason were there so they could actually have another player.

"Hey Calvin, how about putting more bases by the trees in the back? That will make it much more challenging for the runner to get across," Hobbes suggested.

"That's a great idea," said Calvin.

But who really suggested the idea? As soon he realized that Hobbes wasn't running to put down bases, he came to the realization that Hobbes' voice didn't sound any different than his own. Calvin had suggested the bases, not Hobbes. He stood there in silence for a moment, and Hobbes didn't bother to wonder why he was doing so.

Calvin tested his theory. "Hey Hobbes, are you ready to start the game?"

"Sure!" said Hobbes. "Ready when you-"

But as Calvin lifted his finger to his lips, he was the one speaking.

Shocked silence filled the air. Was Calvin's best friend fading away?

"Come on, buddy," said Calvin. "I think maybe we need a break."

The two of them headed inside, Calvin dragging his friend behind him.


	2. Prologue Part 2

"Calvin, there's an extra box of stuff I found in your bedroom," his mother called to him. "I think you'd better look through it, just to make sure you didn't leave anything."

"I think I'll be fine," Calvin said. "Besides, I need to help Susie pack these dishes away."

"Go on, Calvin, we'll be fine," Susie Derkins smiled. "We're nearly ready to move in to that apartment."

Calvin hesitated. He had been ready to move in for months, a few years even, but Susie had announced her plan to attend graduate school right before they could make any plans. It was an exciting time, and Calvin even found his own apartment in the city to be closer to Susie. They had many weekend adventures exploring the city and trying new restaurants, but now, it was time for them to live on their own.

Calvin trudged up the stairs and entered the small bedroom that was once his. It was smaller than he remembered. He opened his closet door and a cardboard box landed on top of him, covering him almost entirely.

"Ow!" he said, picking himself up. It was an empty box, with "Transmogrifier" written on the side in messy handwriting. He had to laugh. This was the box that his mother had saved for him? It was a good memory, but it couldn't do much.

Or could it? He looked down to discover that he had two fuzzy, orange feet. Picking up the box, he realized that the dial was set to "Tiger."

"Oh, man," Calvin groaned. How was he going to explain to his mother or Susie that he had been a victim of his own cardboard box technology? Seeing a "Calvin" option on the dial, he set it and crawled back into the box. Phew! When he came out, the feet were gone. He'd probably just fallen victim to his imagination, which could often be overactive even though he was an adult. Still, he couldn't help but remember the day he'd first "invented" it. He really did think he'd turned into a tiger, which was terrifying and exciting all at once. It may have been years ago, but the memory was still vibrant. How he thought he was a tiger; how he was super psyched to not have to go to school anymore (or so he thought); how he and Hobbes had a special bond for several hours. Life was good then, Calvin thought.

Putting the transmogrifier aside, Calvin reached up for a heavier box. Inside were various toys from childhood, which was the box his mother had put aside. He opened it carefully and discovered a collection of Captain Napalm comic books. He wondered if they were still worth as much money as he thought they'd be when he was a kid. Maybe they'd be worth some extra cash. Making a mental note to save them, he flipped through one and was amused to see mustaches still visible on all the superheroes. Hobbes did like to get himself into trouble.

Hobbes!

Calvin quickly started rummaging through the box. He found his Stupendous Man cape, even more ripped up comic books, an old bag of water balloons that was still intact, a piece of wood from his treehouse that he'd saved when it fell apart, and even an old valentine that he'd given to Susie that had been thrown right back at him. Ah, fifth grade...

But no tiger showed itself. Calvin was really hoping to talk to his friend again.

Like the transmogrifier, Hobbes had probably only been a part of his imagination, but he was a central part of his childhood as well. Sighing, he thought back to many memories at once. Calvinball, show-and-tells at school, even the time the house was broken into brought back memories. He frantically searched through the rest of the box, hoping to find his old friend.

He wasn't there.

Where could Hobbes be? As Calvin frantically searched the pile of old toys on the floor, his mind wondered to all the places he could be. When did he last see Hobbes? The last time they spoke, they were fighting over a game of Calvinball and he shut Hobbes in the closet. He expected Hobbes to walk back out and pounce on him, but he never did. Calvin groaned to himself, thinking that you shouldn't go around throwing friends in closets, but dismissed them pretty quickly when he realized he was older now and shouldn't be thinking about stuffed animals. He checked the closet, but no tiger.

"Calvin? Where are you?"

Calvin realized he'd been in his room for longer than expected. "Almost ready, Susie!"

Ten minutes later, Calvin's room was a pigsty from looking for Hobbes. He chuckled at the mess. _Now_ it looked more like his room.

"Calvin, I...good heavens, what did you do up here? Leaving one last mess for your old mom to clean up before you go, huh?"

Calvin looked up to see his mom in the doorway. "Don't worry about it. I'm about to go, anyway."

As Calvin turned to leave, he gave his bedroom one last look. His parents were moving out soon themselves, to an adult community with many recreational activities and nature trails for his dad to hike and bike on. This was the last he'd see of his childhood. As he was about to walk away, something caught his eye. Was that an old Captain Napalm sock hiding under his bed? He reached down to grab it, when...

"YAAAHHHHH!"Calvin was thrown to the floor before he knew what was happening.

"There you are, old buddy!" said Hobbes, brushing himself off. "That game of Calvinball is still waiting...huh? You've changed!"

Calvin stared. "Well, that's what happens. People grow up. You've been under that bed an awful long time."

"You think? Try years! Thanks for abandoning me, pal!"

"Look, Hobbes, I'm sorry," said Calvin. But as he was trying to explain himself away, Hobbes began to look much more like a stuffed tiger than he did a moment ago. Did Calvin let his imagination get to him yet again?

"Hobbes! Hobbes!" Calvin said, shaking his friend. Hobbes didn't move, reduced to a stuffed toy instead. But he just couldn't bring himself to pack Hobbes into his "box of trash." Instead, Hobbes went into his suitcase.

"Calvin, is everything okay up here?" asked Susie. "I heard something that sounded suspiciously like a yell a minute ago."

Calvin sighed. "Yeah, everything's good. Probably just your imagination. I'm ready to leave if you are."

Susie rolled her eyes. She knew better than to think she imagined anything.

It was hard to do, but Calvin knew it was time to start growing up. After all, he had his life ahead of him. What he didn't realize was that someone else did, too.


	3. Reunion

Calvin was quite proud of himself. The new Bubble Blaster, a water gun that shot bubbles, was the hottest toy on the market and he had managed to save one. Sure, it meant waking up at 7 AM, driving to the county mall, waiting for it to open for a half hour, and fighting competitive customers, but he had done it. This was going to be Frankie's best birthday present ever.

He stood in line for what seemed like forever. The bratty kid in front of him just wasn't happy with the new superhero figure his mom was trying to buy him. After ten minutes of negotiating, he finally ended up with two figures instead of just the one. Calvin hoped he wasn't that bratty at that age.

He waited as the cashier tried to ring him up. "Ok, sir, your total comes to $80.65."

Calvin's eyes bugged out. "I'm sorry? Your catalog said this was selling for only twenty."

The cashier shrugged. "Sorry, it's going for eighty. Not sure where you got that from."

Calvin could kick himself. Did he read the wrong catalog? He was starting to see why his dad often used to come back from the grocery store in bad moods. The incompetent workforce could be unbearable some days. He rummaged through his wallet and came up with the cash.

Calvin was just putting the toy in his car when he felt something on his back. "You have three seconds to hand that over or you're gonna get it."

Burglars? Really? Since when was Chagrin Falls a crime hotspot? Calvin turned around to see…nobody there?

"Ha ha! Got it!" said a 15 year old boy, running away with his friend, gun in hand.

"Hey! Come back here, you little punks!" Calvin ran as fast as his legs could carry him, but couldn't catch up to the boys. Out of breath, he stopped. Was this worth calling the cops for? No, probably not…talk about a long day and an upset Frankie crying about her birthday being ruined…but Frankie would be so disappointed to not get the extra-big surprise she was looking for. He stormed back to his car and tried to think of a plan.

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"Mommmmm! Is Daddy back yet?"

"Soon, Frankie, soon," Susie said, fixing a Happy Birthday banner in the corner. What was taking him so long, anyway? He said he had one last gift to buy for Frankie and he should have been back by now.

Calvin opened the door. "Hi, honey," said Susie. "Frankie's been waiting for you…why are you empty handed?"

Calvin grimaced. "You do not want to know."

Susie motioned for Calvin to follow him into the study, where he recounted his adventure, grimacing the whole time. "Don't worry," Susie said, "I'm sure Frankie will love her other gifts." _There was always Christmas,_ Calvin thought glumly.

As he walked in the house, Calvin thought of something. He hesitated from a moment, then started heading upstairs to his closet. Should he, or shouldn't he? He walked in and took out a big cardboard box full of things from his childhood bedroom that he took with him when he moved out. He hadn't spoken to Hobbes since then. He'd just gotten too busy. _Too busy for friends,_ he thought sadly.

A faded, worn tiger with beady eyes stared at him from the bottom of the box. There was nothing lifelike about him; he was just a typical stuffed animal who you'd never imagine could play Calvinball.

"Hey, Hobbes, ol' buddy," Calvin whispered. He'd rather not have had anyone hear him talking to his old tiger.

The tiger said nothing, so Calvin continued. "How would you like a rematch of Calvinball? I played unfairly, you're right, and I'm sorry." The memory of losing Hobbes stuck out like a sore thumb in his mind. Maybe apologizing would bring him back?

Hobbes still said nothing. Calvin was disappointed, but why should he be?

"How would you like to meet my daughter Frankie? She'd love a new friend for her birthday."

Hobbes still said nothing. How would Frankie react to a motionless tiger? He'd have to hope for the best.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Calvin came downstairs, Hobbes behind his back, to find Frankie and Susie sitting at the table. Presents covered its entirely, and streamers hung from above. The kitchen was poised for an exciting gift reveal.

"Happy birthday, Frankie!" exclaimed Calvin.

Frankie's eyes lit up. "Oh boy! Oh boy! My present! Can I see, Daddy? Can I see?' She jumped up and down like she'd had too many Sugar Bombs.

"I do have your first gift," Calvin said, impressed that Frankie knew he was hiding a toy already. "He was my former best friend, and now I'm giving him to you. Frankie, meet Hobbes." He handed and waited with eager eyes.

But Frankie's face scrunched up into confusion. "Hobbes? Your best friend was a stuffed tiger?" Across the table, Susie gaped at her husband, mouthing, _Hobbes?_

"Er, well, not just _any_ stuffed tiger. This tiger was my best friend. We played games together and fought all the time. This tiger was real, and he'll be a great friend to you too, I'm sure." Did he sound ridiculous? He probably did.

"They also threw water balloons and crabapples at your mother on a regular basis," Susie added. Calvin blushed.

"Yes, well we're past that now, aren't we?" Calvin laughed sheepishly. "I know you're disappointed, Frankie, but a friend is better than toys sometimes. Why not give him a try?"

Suddenly, Frankie smiled. "Sure. How bad can he be?" She turned to the tiger. "Hobbes, I'm Frankie, and we're going to be friends for life. I can just _feel_ it."

If only he'd thought of this in the first place, there would have been no need for an $80 toy whose destiny was to be stolen. Hobbes was priceless.

 **Finally, an update. Sorry if the "finding Hobbes in a box and passing him along" bit seemed cliche, but it had to happen for the story to move along. Now Frankie will be a much more prominent character. What adventures will they get into next?... It might be a while between updates again, but give my story a follow and I'll keep you posted!**


	4. Monsters

Frankie sat in bed, trying to sleep. Try as she might, she just wasn't sure if she wanted to share her bed with a tiger yet. But he didn't look good perched on her chair, either. He sort of looked like a monster. She shuddered, got Hobbes off the chair, and shoved him under the bed.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!"

Frankie shrieked. Where had that noise come from?

"Hey! Down here!"

 _Monsters._

Her dad had told her all about the monsters under his bed. He was always convinced that the two-headed menaces Harry and Winslow were down there, praying on his every move and bribing Hobbes with salmon so he'd shove Calvin under there. As silly as that sounded, who was the one talking to her right now?

"Go…go away. I'm not afraid of you."

What had Dad told her the solution to monsters was? Turning on the lights! She reached for her lamp, pushing long brown hair from her face, and when she turned around, she was stunned into silence. A tall tiger stood in front of her, standing upright. He was about four or five heads taller than Frankie.

"Nice carpet you got there," said Hobbes. "You should ask Calvin to get you a new one. It looks like someone rolled an animal into it. And what was I doing under your bed, anyway?"

Frankie stared at her tiger-print rug. Then she stared at Hobbes. Here she was, talking to a live, talking tiger. This was too bizarre to believe, moreso than the rug pattern. And here they were, talking about nothing more than room furnishings.

"Are you the monster under the bed?" she asked.

"Monster? I would hope not. Unless you were prey, like a mouse or squirrel or whatever we eat. Then I wouldn't be so sure."

"While we're…talking…you didn't see any monsters under the bed, did you?"

"Not except me."

"My dad told me all about his bedtime monsters. I know all about them, and how they terrorized him at midnight. Maybe they were invisible."

"If you're talking about his fear of the dark, then he certainly had plenty of them. Monsters don't exist as physical forms, you know. They're just representations of what we're actually scared of."

"That actually sounded _smart,"_ Frankie said. "How can an animal be so smart?"

"Well, I hung around your dad a lot. He was a lot smarter than he let on in school. He could be dumb in the ways of talking to people, but he was a philosophical genius, that's for sure."

"Ok, let me use logic now," said Frankie. "You defy it, and you're a large animal, so how can I be sure you won't eat me or something?"

"Some things just can't be explained. But Calvin survived all these years with me, and nothing happened. Tigers want tuna, not humans. They taste disgusting." He stuck his tongue out.

"So…could there actually be such things as monsters, and maybe we just don't know it?"

"Possibly," said Hobbes. "Although, they may just be the aliens on another planet. Calvin and I went to Mars once, and we discovered a pretty ugly life form there, but he was just as scared of us as we were of him."

"So there are no monsters!"

"Nope, don't think so. Not on Earth. We tigers have seen it all."

There was a pause. "Wait. You went to _Mars?"_

"Hypothetically speaking."

"Wow! Not even scientists have been there! Hobbes, you're awesome. Plus, you should be in National Geographic or something. Do you have pictures?"

"I may have a picture of the alien somewhere, if you want to see. Probably in pretty bad shape though."

Frankie thought a moment. What if the aliens _did_ exist?

"You know what? Maybe, just in case, you can sleep in my bed tonight," said Frankie.

"Oh, boy! It's been years since I slept in a bed. I hope I can get used to the sensation." He curled up on one side, walked in a couple circles, and lay down.

"Hey, Hobbes? How come you never bothered telling your dad that the monsters didn't exist?"

Hobbes snickered. "Interesting social experiment. By the time he figured it out, we didn't talk much anymore."

Frankie yawned. It was way past bedtime. "Ha, you're funny. Good night, Hobbes," she said, turning off her light and walking into bed. She didn't even have to jump over the bed to avoid getting her toes eaten off. She didn't need to.

She had her new best friend with her.


	5. PALS

Frankie trudged off the school bus, in a terrible mood. Could the first week have gone any worse? The new boy in class, Steve, seemed to be after her like no other. They played matball in gym class, which was like baseball only you kicked the ball instead of hitting it. She was on Steve's team and whenever their team was in the outfield, he'd pelt balls at her instead of the player running the bases. Of course, their dictatorial gym teacher didn't seem to notice. She thought that lunch might cheer her up, except for it was a disgusting mix of ham and potatoes that she decided the cafeteria only served because it was cheap and they barely had enough money to supply their labor force. Worst of all, she had a sheet of addition to complete for homework. Homework! First graders shouldn't have to be subject to work outside of school, Frankie thought. She opened the front door.

"YAAAAHHHHHHH!" It wasn't clear who was screaming; Frankie in terror, or Hobbes in delight as he tackled her to the ground.

"Wha…? Get off me, you big galoot!"

"Boy, you're no fun," said Hobbes, brushing himself off. "Calvin let me pounce on him every day. Well, I guess I use _let_ in the lighter sense of the word. But we did it. It was our routine." Hobbes frowned. "What's gotten into you, anyway? I thought you had the sense to enjoy learning."

"I do enjoy learning," said Frankie. "It's the school part I don't like. There's this new guy in class who pelts me with dodgeballs at every turn! I don't have any time to make an argument for myself!"

Hobbes thought a minute. "I have an idea. Follow me." He took Frankie by the hand and led her through the backyard.

"Where are we going?" said Frankie.

"You'll see!" Hobbes was now dragging Frankie along at a speed she could barely keep up with. They zig zagged around trees until they came to an older, tall tree with a very old, rickety treehouse sitting atop it. This used to be Calvin's old backyard before developers tore down the neighborhood to make way for a wildlife preserve, but the treehouse still stood after all these years. Hobbes began to climb up.

Frankie frowned. "How am I supposed to get up there? I can't climb trees!"

Hobbes answered by throwing down a rope ladder. When Frankie climbed up, Hobbes had a paper hat on.

"Welcome to the new order of G.R.O.S.S., or _Get Rid of Slimy Girls,"_ said Hobbes, handing Frankie a hat of her own. I believe it's time to reinstate your dad's old club in the spirit of evil classmates."

"But I'm not against girls! _I'm_ a girl!" she said, refusing to take her hat.

"So? We can call it something else. I always thought The Hobbes Fan Club was a good idea. Your dad never went for it, I can't imagine why…"

Frankie only rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay," Hobbes said quickly. "We'll think of another abbreviation. Calling it G.R.O.S.S. again would be irrelevant. What are some gross words?"

"Ugly, fat, gags, spit…"

"Ooh, ooh, what about something fancy like _disgusting_ or _revolting?_ Classy clubs get classy names."

"What on earth is classy about _revolting_?"

"Suit yourself. But if we picked a longer name, nobody would be able to guess our club's identity."

"Come on, Hobbes. We're pals. We shouldn't fight about the meaning of-"

"That's it! Pals! Pals Against Losers and Scumbags! It's a nice name, with a hidden agenda."

"Excellent idea, Hobbes. Shake on it?" The two shook hands before Frankie put on her own hat. "Now, what did Calvin do after he started his club?"

"Well, he wanted a space to build maps and do projects, so he backed your grandparents' car out of the garage and it landed in a ditch. I don't think that would help much."

"No, I meant...what order of business comes next?"

"Well, for starters, every club needs a good officer. Why don't I be First Tiger, and you can be President. Just as long as I can also be Chief Officer of Weapons and Supplies. I need responsibility too, you know. We tigers are very responsible."

"Excellent, then! So! What do we do now?"

"Ha ha! It's Frankie from gym class! Look at her, playing with her stupid baby stuffed animal because she has no friends to play with! Ha ha ha!"

Frankie and Hobbes peered over the treehouse to see none other than Steve walking by with a couple buddies.

 **Hobbes then did something he'd never done before. He suddenly left his stuffed animal facade, grabbed some pinecones that sat in the corner of the treehouse, and started pelting them with his furry paws. His face did not stick out of the treehouse. Steve's eyes popped out like saucers and he had his friends started running for their lives at the "invisible tiger" in the treehouse.**

"For a tough guy, he sure isn't very smart," smirked Frankie.

"We need to get a notebook so we can record the day's events and give ourselves some medals. I must say, we're already way ahead of G.R.O.S.S. Calvin never won a battle in honor of the club."

"I say a gold medal each because it's our first day, two extra Tootsie rolls from Dad's desk drawer, and-"

"Frankie, were you throwing pinecones at the neighborhood boys?"

Frankie groaned. Calvin's voice was coming up to her in the treehouse. Steve must have told on her, and Calvin had eventually found her hiding place. How did he _always_ find her hiding places?

"But Dad, Steve was being a jerk! He was pelting me with balls and teasing me? And you say I can't even defend myself? Give me a break."

Calvin thought back to all the times where Moe beat him up and demanded his lunch money. He should have stood up for himself more than he did. Now Moe was a formidable high-powered lawyer and _certainly_ not in jail like Calvin had always assumed. And for all he knew, he still had a jar of Calvin's lunch money somewhere...he shivered at the thought. Maybe Frankie was on to something.

"Well then, good job, Frankie. Keep at it. You show those bullies who's boss." He gave her a thumbs up and headed back to the house. Frankie could have sworn that she saw her tiger and her dad exchange winks. Phew! She wasn't sure how she got out of that one.

"Well, what do you say, buddy? We got some big plans for this club!"

"So true! Maybe we could paint the treehouse, or give it windows, or invite more members!"

The two friends sat down to scribble plans. The weekend stretched before them, full of possibility.

 **Hey, all you people. Thank you for stopping by and I'm sorry it's been a while. I have college classes, including a fiction writing class going on so I don't always feel up to writing a new snippet. I probably won't publish a lot for the next couple of months, but please subscribe if you are interested; you never know when a new one will be published!**


	6. Golf

"He centers the ball and lines it up carefully," Hobbes said as he prepared to putt his golf ball.

"But Frankie hinders his progress by putting her designated obstacle for the course right in front of the hole!" She placed a cardboard box almost on top of the hole Hobbes was aiming for.

At first, Frankie didn't believe that going mini golfing was a fun way to spend a rainy day, of all things. But maybe she should listen to Hobbes more often. This was actually fun, especially when you added all sorts of obstacles along the way.

"Hobbes rethinks his option, and lines up his ball _again_ ," he said, frustrated. "You know, maybe we should limit our obstacles. It's getting impossible to get a score under 6."

"You're just being a sissy. Obstacles make it more fun. Besides, you were the one to stand over the hole on my last turn." Frankie held the cardboard in place, and then stepped out of the way.

Hobbes sighed and lined up his putt. He pretended to tap the ball a few times before swinging, a little too hard. The ball rolled past the hole, but then it hit a curve in the ground and went down straight into the hole.

"He putts, he scores!" Hobbes shouted, doing a victory dance.

"And luck makes Hobbes win, once again. I'll show you. It's my turn now." Frankie swung her ball towards the hole where Hobbes had picked up his ball, but ended up hitting her tiger friend instead.

"Ow! That's not fair play!"

"Again, says the tiger who stood over the hole on my turn. Come on, we still have six more holes to do, and you're not cheating anymore."

They played the next couple holes. Forgetting about their one obstacle rule, they were now playing with as many obstacles as possible, trying to get the other to get high scores. Unfortunately, tension was so high at that point that one of Hobbes' balls put an indent in a window not far from the hole.

"FRANKIE!"

Susie came running downstairs after hearing a noise. Not only was her window broken, but coffee cans, cardboard, and blocks lay all over the carpet. It looked like a tornado hit. She tried to go to Frankie and only managed to trip over a block.

"Frankie, you need to clean this up right now. Our house is not a toy or a golf course."

"Sure, Mom," Frankie said glumly. "Well, I guess our game is over, Hobbes." The two called a truce, and began to pick themselves up.

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But was it the end?

The next day, Calvin came back from running some errands.

"Frankie! Come see what I got us!" She ran into the kitchen to find Calvin with a big box and taking what looked to be a game console out of it. "We got a Wii! What do you think!" Her response was a shriek.

"Now we can play sports all we like _without_ tearing the house apart," said Calvin. Then he remembered something that his father told him years ago. "If you're going to ruin a golf course, you ought to at least ruin your own."

Frankie hugged her father and ran upstairs to see Hobbes, who was thumbing through comic books. She told him all about the new game, and the two spent all weekend trying to beat each other at golf. Of course, neither of them were very good, as it wasn't easy for kids to play.

"Boy, this sure beats golf in the house," said Frankie. "I'm probably the only kid to ever get out of punishment for stuff like this."

"If you believe that this helps you forget that that window is coming from your allowance, sure," said Hobbes.

 **Oh, look! Two stories in one day! Don't expect this again; I was just inspired, plus I really wanted to include more one/two scene stories here. (The next one's going to be a bit longer.) I like this one because you can insert Calvin's name in place of Frankie's and it would still be totally doable (except for Calvin's dad coming home with a Wii since it wasn't invented yet; plus I'm sure he wouldn't want one anyway!).**

 **If you have any ideas for stories, send them my way!**


	7. Amy

"Boy, you'd think a girl could catch a break after a long day of education," Frankie scowled as she sat in the bathtub. "I mean, look at me. I'm not dirty! I'm hardly ever dirty! I could probably go the rest of my life without taking a bath!"

'Well, humans smell pretty interesting when they don't take baths," said her tiger friend Hobbes, sitting at the side of the tub. "Trust me."

Frankie didn't appear to hear this remark. "And why do I need to take a bath after school? After school is play outside time, not chore time!"

"Didn't you listen to your parents this morning?" Hobbes said. Frankie was so much like Calvin, she might well be one of his childhood duplicates in disguise. She hated baths, she didn't always like to listen, and she complained about tyrannical parents and adults all the time. And now Hobbes felt like there was another one to add to the list: a hatred of babysitters.

"I know, I know, the babysitter is coming over tonight," Frankie whined. "But my parents are going out on a date, not me! Why do I have to look nice for the babysitter?"

"Well, it's always good to look nice for girls. Then you get smooches!" Hobbes smiled.

"Ew, gross! You WANT kisses from the babysitter?"

Hobbes' smile slowly faded as he realized what he was implying. "Well…." Frankie's brow furrowed. "No, of course not."

"Let's put this bath to good use and start brainstorming," said Frankie.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"This emergency meeting of P.A.L.S., or _**P**_ _eople_ _ **A**_ _gainst_ _ **L**_ _osers and_ _ **S**_ _cumbags,_ will now come to order," Frankie announced from her bedroom. Beside her, First Tiger and Chief Officer of Weapons and Supplies, took notes in an official club notebook. The club was started when Steve, the most annoying boy in class, spent the afternoon taunting Frankie and she needed an escape. However, since babysitters were clearly Losers and probably Scumbags, they both felt like an emergency meeting was in order.

"Right," said Hobbes. "Now the Chief Officer feels like it is of utmost importance to go over our supply of materials. President Frankie will now read off the list of possibilities devised at bathtime."

Frankie cleared her throat. "Darts?"

Hobbes checked his notebook. "All darts removed from the premises by order of Frankie's father, a.k.a. Calvin, since September 10."

She frowned, then continued. "Water balloons?"

"No urgent demand to resupply due to upcoming weather conditions."

Frankie shrugged. "I got nothing. Well, at least we have our brains."

"That's true. Brains were responsible for the world's weapons in the first place."

"Frankie! Come meet the babysitter!" called Susie.

Frankie sighed. "Come on, Hobbes. Let's go meet our doom."

But Hobbes had a sneaky smile spread across his face. "I have a better idea."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"...and the list of emergency numbers is on the fridge," finished up Susie. "Any questions or concerns, just call us. I know that little kids can be a lot to handle!"

Amy laughed. "Don't worry, I think I can handle it."

Susie couldn't hold back a snicker. "You obviously haven't seen my husband when he was a child. Anyway, we're on our way, we should be back by 9 or so-'"

"HA HA HA! DIE, BABYSITTER, DIE!"

Amy looked up in horror to see a bucket of blue water come down straight on top of her head, soaking her from head to toe. Susie was furious.

"Oh, Amy….just give me a second, I must speak to Frankie about this behavior...Dear, will you get Amy some towels please?….oh, I'm terribly sorry about this…"

But little did they know that Amy thought differently.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Nice going, Hobbes," said Frankie, confined to the time-out chair in the living room.

"Well, melting witches works in the movies. Sue me."

Frankie raised an eyebrow. "And the food coloring?

"Well, maybe that will teach you not to keep weird hoards of stuff in your room so nobody else will get ideas."

Frankie froze up as Amy entered the room. "Okay, listen up," she told Frankie. "I only punished you because I didn't want to give your mom the wrong idea. You know, that's a pretty cool prank you pulled there. I used to do the same thing to my babysitters."

Frankie just stared. "You...did?"

Amy laughed. "Of course. You know, I was thinking. Maybe we could come up with a prank to pull on your parents while they're gone. Something simple. Why not leave a surprise for your parents to find when they come home? That will teach them to leave you alone when they're out having fun."

Frankie grinned. "You're the best babysitter ever. Let's do it."

Could it be that good babysitters actually existed? What a waste of time their meeting was! Together they set to work digging up dirt and scattering it amongst drawers and nooks and crannies. Susie would have some cleaning to do tomorrow. Frankie dug it up while Hobbes put it away in secret places.

"Now you tell your parents you have no idea where this came from," Amy instructed. "I told them that we were going to work on homework tonight, and that you were with me the entire time." Frankie nodded. She didn't see Amy put a sticky note into one of the drawers as she worked diligently on everything. After all, she had to prove to her parents that she had been busy. Not one addition problem would be incorrect, even if she had to spend hours on them.

Before Frankie knew it, her parents were home. "Hi, Amy, how was...Frankie, did you do this?" Calvin asked, his hand full of worms from the garden that seemed to come from the kitchen sink. Meanwhile, Susie was already noticing a rather dirty sticky note coming from the desk drawer that wasn't there when they left. She picked it up.

 _Ha ha ha! This is what you get for leaving me with a babysitter! -Love, Frankie_

Frankie slapped her hand to her forehead. How could she _not_ have known that a prank would get her in trouble? She'd been tricked.

"Come on, you. Up to bed," Susie instructed as Frankie trudged upstairs. The words, _dumb babysitter!_ could vaguely be heard if Susie had chosen to pay attention.

"Well, I guess it's a sad day for P.A.L.S.," she told Hobbes as she got into bed. "And I was secretly forced to do homework!"

Hobbes just laughed. "Haven't I told you about all the trouble that Calvin got into with G.R.O.S.S.? You're not even close to that. I think that P.A.L.S. will have to make a lot more trouble before we can reach his level!"

Frankie smiled. Someday, they'd find a way to terrorize their babysitter and get away with it. The club was counting on her. And because this particular babysitter was _actually_ a kid-hating menace, they would be fully justified.

Meanwhile, Amy couldn't help laughing to herself as Calvin drove her home. She hated kids. As long as she could have a bit of fun along the way, why not put up with some trouble for college money? And with luck, she'd never have to babysit Frankie again.

 **Surprise, another chapter! I'm sorry if the pranks were really stupid; I lacked inspiration and really wanted to put this chapter up.**


	8. Halloween

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!"  
Those were the shouts that could be heard all the way from a bus stop to four blocks later. Neighbors looked up from their lawns and grimaced as the little noisy fireball whizzed past them.  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the neighbors, the noise arrived at 700 Willow Drive. The source opened the door and yelled, "I'm back!"Another noise was heard following the resembled padded footsteps. After a few seconds, the footsteps leapt into the air and pounced onto the original source of the "oh boys!"  
"YAAAAHHHHH!" it yelled. The two tumbled onto the yard, which was covered in leaves.  
"Oh boy!" Frankie yelled, "You'll never guess what I learned at school today!"  
The pouncer, an anthropomorphic tiger named Hobbes, sat up and scratched his head. "I notice this isn't the usual reaction to getting pounced on. Boy, school must not do much for humans' brains if they come home suddenly changed."  
"It's not school. Or Miss Frankfurt. She wastes her time teaching us things I can look up on Google! Steve taught me that there's a holiday in the fall where you get to go around to all the neighbors and they give you candy. And you get to wear a costume!"  
"You mean Halloween?" Hobbes asked. "How could you not have heard of Halloween at your age?"  
Then he remembered…  
 **00000000000000000000000000000000**

Three years earlier…  
"Honey! Have you seen my hat?"  
Susie entered the living room, dressed as a witch. She was clothed in head to toe in a black dress, striped knee socks of purple and yellow, and even a messy wig, but was missing the quintessential pointy hat.  
Calvin didn't look up from his reading. "Haven't seen it."  
Susie sighed. "I'm going to be late for the company Halloween party. I can't go as a witch without a hat". Maybe Frankie got to it?"  
Calvin merely muttered, "Hm." Susie sighed and looked around.  
"Where is Frankie, anyway? She sure has been quiet today," Susie said. She headed upstairs, but noticed something odd.  
"Calvin? Where's the Halloween candy?"  
Most of the candy that Susie set aside in a basket by the front door had gone missing. Except for the Dots, anyway. Nobody liked Dots, Susie thought. She'd have very little to give out to the trick-or-treaters now. And it certainly wasn't beyond Calvin to sneak candy every so often. She'd always caught him eating Tootsie Rolls on a regular basis and wasn't sure where they came from  
"Calvin, I'm serious. Did you eat my…"  
At that moment, a piercing scream was heard. Frankie came speeding down the steps at full speed, screaming. "IT'S A BIRD. IT'S A PLANE! IT'S SUPER FRANKSTER!"  
"Frankie! My goodness!" Susie had to run to try and catch Frankie.  
Crash! Right into the glass vase that her mother had bought for her birthday.  
Smack! Right under Calvin's recliner, which snapped up as Calvin jumped in surprise.  
"Frankie, you need to stop! Now!"  
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Frankie yelled. "EVIL PARENTS, BE BOILED!"  
"I think you mean foiled," Calvin lazily pointed out. Susie glared at him.  
Frankie was so busy looking at her father that she crashed into a wall. Susie picked her up. As she did so, a Reese's wrapper fell out of Frankie's pocket.  
"How much candy did you eat?"  
Frankie's face crumpled.  
"Frankie?"  
"I'm…I'm sorry Mommy!" Frankie wailed. She began to cry. "I thought I could have some!"  
"That's alright," Susie sighed. "Maybe we should get you down for a nap."  
And nap she did. But by the third trick-or-treater that evening, Calvin was trying to sneak one of the packs of Dots into a trick-or-treat bag when the distant sound of retching got his attention." He sighed, closed the door and turned off the porch light. Looked like this Halloween was going to be a washout. He entered Frankie's room to see that she had vomited right into Susie's missing hat.  
Susie came home early to help out.  
"No more Halloween for you, Frankie!" she said, tucking Frankie into bed once again at midnight.  
Frankie was feeling too sick to care.

 **0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**  
"Well, see, I think it started with a crash sugar rush of yours," said Hobbes.  
"Oh, so you're going to side with my mother? Take all the joy out of being a kid, will you?"  
"Well, if throwing up all night and getting in trouble is your idea of fun…" Frankie didn't see Hobbes roll his eyes.  
"Well, come on! We've got to find costumes!"  
"So when are we going out?"  
"Tonight! Steve said that he was planning a great costume for this evening!"  
And they rushed towards Frankie's room.  
"Okay, we need a good group costume that we can make quickly," said Frankie, taking out a piece of paper and pencil. "We've got to sketch some ideas."  
"But it gets dark so early that we'll need to work quickly," Hobbes pointed out. "We don't have a lot of time before we should be heading out."  
"Right. Because Mom tried to keep it a secret from me. Maybe we should go as the Evil Parent Prevention Superhero Squad."  
"I think we should be a little more subtle," said Hobbes. "Hey, what if we wear our P.A.L.S. hats?" The P.A.L.S. hats were just like the paper hats of G.R.O.S.S., but made from wrapping paper as to not steal G.R.O.S.S.' legacy.  
"Nobody would know who we are. Or they'd ask too many questions. What about that old Transmogrifier that Dad is always talking about? Does he still have it?"  
"Oh no. I'm not using that, thank you very much. That box is bad news," Hobbes said, crossing his arms.  
"Well, I'm trying to think. Let me get some apple cider for us and maybe the idea will hit me square in the face. That's always how my best ideas come to me, when I zone out in class."  
"As Frankie walked into the kitchen, she passed her mom carrying a laundry basket. Suddenly, a small article of clothing fell on her head.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Frankie!" Susie said. She picked up the crimson shirt.  
But was it a shirt? Susie seemed confused.  
Then, her face broke out in a smile.  
"Oh, my goodness! Look at this, Frankie! This is your dad's old superhero costume! I wonder how this got in here?" She bent down to show it to Frankie. It was slightly faded, but very much intact.  
"You mean to say that Dad actually wore this? Cool beans! He has better taste than I thought!"  
Susie laughed. "Well, mostly he just used it to get himself into trouble. One time, he hit me with a snowball the size of a bowling ball. He didn't always understand that great power comes with great responsibility." She chuckled, more to herself than to Frankie.  
"Hey, can I borrow it?"  
Susie looked at the costume, then at Frankie. "Well, it does look to be your size…why not?"  
"YES! Thank you!" Off she sped without a glance back, or any apple cider.  
When she showed her new costume to Hobbes ("The Quickster!" she said. "I got it from Spongebob! Able to avoid parents and outrun bullies in a single sprint!"), he just frowned. "So what am I supposed to be?"  
Frankie thought. "My sidekick? You can be Hobbes the Talking Tiger."  
"Too generic. What about…the Fighting Tiger?" He posed in a karate-kick motion, then smiled in satisfaction.  
"Sounds good. Do you need a costume?"  
"Well, any good fighting master knows that you need a karate belt to be taken seriously. Does your dad have any?"  
"Those are regular belts. Not for karate. Maybe we can make you one out of plastic."  
"Hmph! Wouldn't it be better if we looked like the real thing, and not just guys in costumes?"  
"Please. You're already a guy in a costume. All you'd have to do is walk around and say, "trick or treat!" They'd never know you were real."  
Hobbes scratched his chin. "That may be true. Let's try it out. As long as you call me "The Fighting Tiger" at all costs."  
After a disgusting dinner of lima beans and lasagna (which they didn't mind, because obviously they were going to feast on candy later), the two put on their costumes and went downstairs again.  
"Hey! Playing superhero, are we? I know that costume."  
Frankie smiled. "Of course!" She turned to Hobbes and laughed. They were going to have a great Halloween, and their parents didn't even know!  
Calvin chuckled. "Don't get into too much trouble."  
When their parents weren't looking, Frankie and Hobbes went out the door.  
"As far as they know, we're just playing outside," said Frankie. "All we have to do is sneak out quietly and head down the street."  
They were the first trick-or-treaters outside. The air was crisp and calm, and the street was theirs for the taking.  
"This is great!" said Hobbes. "We'll be the first to all the good candy! Just remember, I get dibs on Crunch bars. Tigers like a sense of crunch. It helps us strengthen our teeth to be able to better hunt down difficult prey."  
"The only prey you'll see around here is kids trying to TP houses. You won't want to eat them," Frankie said. "Anyway, I get dibs on Hershey kisses. They're the best."  
"Wait a minute, I forgot about those!" said Hobbes. "I call dibs on kisses. You can have Crunch bars."  
"That's not fair!"  
"Is too. Kisses are even better for chewing practice, shall we say."  
"That's not true! You just made that up!"  
"Shhh!" said Hobbes. "We'll disturb the trick-or-treaters. And their parents. Parents will probably call the cops or something, with the leashes they keep on their kids these days. Let's call a truce and get going. We'll divide our rations later."  
"Deal." They shook.  
Soon they were headed to Mrs. Anderson's house. Mrs. Anderson was a lonely grandmother and always loved the kids who came to visit. They decided her house would be a good place to start.  
"Trick or treat!"  
Mrs. Anderson frowned. "Halloween already? Goodness me. You know, I'm not sure I have candy…let me see if I have something in the pantry. I'll be right back."  
"They waited at the doorstep. "You forgot to introduce me as Fighting Tiger. You now owe me a Crunch bar."  
"Shut up. We wanted to have fun tonight, and that's what we're going to do. We're getting candy anyway; don't complain."  
Mrs. Anderson returned, but not with candy. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect Halloween to come so soon. Here, take these raisins instead." She handed Frankie a tiny box of Sun Maid.  
"Er, right. Thanks! Happy Halloween!" Mrs. Anderson simply smiled and waved.  
"I can't believe our luck! The best grandma in the neighborhood, and we get raisins! I'm disappointed."  
"Raisins aren't useful to tigers at all," said Hobbes. "Let's try the next house."  
To their surprise, the same thing happened at the next house. The people inside had to go visit their pantry before bringing anything out. This confused Frankie, and they once again didn't get candy. And at the third house, they were actually turned away!  
"Who do you think you are?" the man at the door said. "Stealing food, eh? Do you want me to call the cops on you?" And he slammed the door shut.  
"We must not be doing it right," said Frankie. "Steve said you were supposed to do this on Halloween."  
"We need to take time out and rethink our strategy. Perhaps we need to be more persuasive." Hobbes bared his teeth. "Maybe this'll show them."  
"FRANKIE! GET BACK HERE!"  
"Calvin's voice was coming from their house three doors away. Something was definitely wrong, and Frankie and Hobbes ran back as fast as their legs could carry them.  
"Frankie, what are you doing?" Calvin cried. "I've gotten calls complaining about you! Trick-or-treating is for Halloween and Halloween only!"  
"We weren't trick or treating!" said Frankie. "We were…uh…seeing if the neighbors needed help with their yards."  
Calvin folded his arms and tapped his foot, unimpressed. "Frankie, Halloween is a month away. What are you doing?"  
Frankie's face fell. Steve didn't say that it wasn't today. He let on that he was dressing up tonight!  
"Going to strangers, asking for their food? Do you know what that looks like?"  
Frankie hung her head. "I'm…I'm sorry. Dad." She sniffed. "This boy Steve said that he was dressing up tonight and…I thought we could go tonight."  
"You thought wrong," said Calvin. "That kid was probably going to a costume party. Now come inside and give me that food. We need to give it back tomorrow."  
"I can't believe I got fooled by a boy in class!" said Frankie in bed that night.  
"Well, they do say that boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails. They should try being tigers. Then they wouldn't have that problem." Hobbes' tummy rumbled. "And I still wouldn't mind that Crunch bar."  
Frankie ignored him. "How was I supposed to know Halloween was in October? I haven't celebrated since I was really little!" She sighed. "We missed out on a great Halloween. Think we'll get Mom to change her mind and take us trick or treating this year?"  
"Hopefully," said Hobbes. "But next time, leave me out of it. My element is scaring people." He playfully punched Frankie so that she fell out of bed. He grinned. "Trick or treating may be over, but Hobbes the Fighting Tiger is always around."  
Meanwhile, a little boy in a Superman costume wandered onto the street, preparing a water gun and a TP roll for battle…  
He rang a glowing doorbell. It was answered by a man who stretched before opening the door. It must have been pretty late.  
"Trick or treat, punk!" Steve said, spraying the water bottle in the person's face. As they screamed, trying to get water out of their eyes, he got to work with his buddies, tossing toilet paper all over the trees.  
"And that's only a preparation for October! See ya!"  
He laughed and ran away.  
Calvin stood there, sighing. He didn't understand little kids very much. It was September, and he'd already had enough of Halloween for the year. Sighing, he closed the door and went to bed, knowing he'd be facing a mess in the morning. Maybe he'd make Frankie do it. Hey, Frankie was on her way to becoming Stupendous Woman, if his eyes told him correctly.  
Maybe his dad was right. A little character building couldn't hurt.

*****************************************************8  
Whoa, has it really been since February that I last updated? Geez. Anyway. I am back, finally! Given how early everyone is starting with Halloween this year I thought I'd just upload this now. But yet...it's not quite Halloween, as you'll notice. So I thought it was appropriate.

Thanks for your patience and enjoy! Follow if you want more!

I also greatly apologize for any weird HTML. This has been an off-and-on issue and I hope it's readable.


	9. Computers

"Dad won't stop talking about this," Frankie said.

They were sitting in front of Calvin's computer in the study. In front of them sat a blank digital piece of paper with all sorts of buttons. "He said he got a great new game."

"Interesting," said Hobbes. "When Calvin was a kid we had to draw everything on paper."

"So what do people do on this, anyway? Type boring reports?"

"I don't know," said Hobbes. "Maybe it's a game. Try doing something and see what happens."

Frankie clicked a button that said Times New Roman. "I'm American, not Roman." She scrolled through the list of options. "I don't see American on here, though. Or Tiger. Hey, look at this one. Lucida Handwriting is so fancy!" She selected it.

"I don't know," Hobbes said. "Franklin Gothic looks good to me. Neat and professional. It's the tiger way."

"Oh, really? Because Lucida is a girl, and girls rule. Franklin goes to Jupiter to get stupider."

Hobbes frowned and went for the font menu. "Franklin will make you pay for that little remark. Where is he, anyway?"

Frankie started at the screen. "What good does arguing do if Franklin and Lucida don't even show up?"

Hobbes tried to select another option, pressing the keyboard as he did so, forming the letter F. "Oh, look. They're not people. They're just different letters on the paper."

"Sure, they're people. And Lucida is fancy, so she's clearly the girl here. Give me that." Frankie started typing letters on the keyboard. "But what are Lucida and Franklin supposed to do? All they do is make letters!"

Hobbes thought for a moment. "Maybe they do battle. with each other. But perhaps they feel threatened. I've seen stuff like this before."

"Where?"

"Tiger instinct. And TV ads."

Frankie sighed. "This seems like a really weird game to be advertising!"

"Maybe we're supposed to make something happen." Hobbes changed the text to Franklin again.

 _Franklin rules. This is Franklin's page. You may not enter without a password._

"Hi-ya!" Frankie grabbed the mouse and selected Lucida again. "I'll show you who's boss!" She then hit the keyboard.

The conversation went something like this (excluding all the spelling errors):

 _Franklin reaches over and changes the font to himself._

 _Lucida thinks Franklin is a bad guy and starts her takeover so Franklin can't eve get a word in! fkejhgkewhgwehgjwhgj4whith4wotyiy4yui43uyi34uyi34uyo43iuy4p3otgjwkengvkwengbkwegkwejhkgwegwelkgjlwqekjglwe..._

 _Franklin insists that Lucida go back to the color changing button where she belongs._ Hobbes then noticed the button with a giant letter A and turned Lucida's words pink!

"An insult! You think I'm a _girl!"_

 _Lucida is now ruining Franklin's words with red marks!_

Wait. How was she even doing that?

"Red marks?" Hobbes looked at the screen. "What is Lucida doing? Why is my text all red?" All sorts of red lines underlined most of his text.

"Probably because girls can play dirty, too," Frankie said, smug, flipping her hair to the side.

Hobbes clicked the word "belongs," which he had spelled as "beelogz," and several new words came up. "Hold on. Pause the game. I think Franklin spelled something wrong."

"Only he'll never admit it, so you have to change his words for him."

"Hardee har har," said Hobbes, angry, as the computer changed it to "belongs."

Frankie then took back the keyboard.

 _Lucida has an angry word with Franklin!_ she wrote. _She thinks Franklin is too high and mighty._

 _Dear Franklin, I…_

But she couldn't finish. Out of nowhere, a paper clip appeared. He watched Frankie and Hobbes from behind the screen.

"It looks like you are writing a letter. Would you like help?" he asked.

"A paper clip!" Hobbes and Frankie said together.

"So there _are_ characters in this game!" Frankie said.

"This is no game. The computer must have become self aware," Hobbes said, scratching his chin. "He was listening to our conversation, but he's a material being. Franklin and Lucida are invisible forces."

"It's all Franklin's fault! He was so high and mighty that evil forces made themselves materialize! Go away, paper clip." She clicked it, but all the paper clip did was turn into an atom.

"Whoa…" the two of them said.

"Something is happening with the time-space continuum. We broke the fourth wall with our game!" Frankie gasped! "He's turning into atoms! We need to get out of here."

"Try the big red X," Hobbes said, pointing to the X in the top right.

"Right away!"

The computer spoke again. "Do you want to save the changes you made?"

"Oh, no. I'm not touching this game for a while." Hobbes backed away. "It's dangerous." Frankie hit the button. "Phew, that was close. Now, where were we?" She double clicked the icon with a W next to it. A new document appeared, and Times New Roman was there once again.

Calvin peeked into the study. "What's going on? Did you try that new game I got you?"

"Yeah, it's…interesting!" said Frankie.

Calvin's eyebrows narrowed. "What are you doing in Microsoft Word? Where's the Chutes and Ladders game I installed?"

Frankie looked at Hobbes with a blank expression. "This was supposed to be Chutes and Ladders?"

Calvin rolled his eyes. "Did you even look at the game?"

"I thought this was the game."

Calvin laughed. "Writing stories with Hobbes? Keep up the good work. Being creative builds-" He shook the thought away, refusing to sound like his father.

When Calvin walked away, Frankie and Hobbes just looked at each other.

In bed that night, Frankie and Hobbes lay awake.

"I can't wait to tell everyone at school how we almost destroyed the fourth wall!" Frankie said.

"I can't wait to play the game again. But this time, I'll play as Roman. He's boring and probably more normal."

"Maybe we can make our own characters!" Frankie said. "Oh, this is exciting. And you can be Steve from school, and I can defeat you. If we play as people we know, maybe they won't try to take over the computer."

"A whole world full of possibilities!" said Hobbes. "We can create our own stories!"

Frankie yawned. "Goodnight, Hobbes."

Meanwhile, behind the computer screen, the paper clip frowned. "Why does everyone hate me?" he wondered, going to sleep himself.

 **Hallelujah! A new chapter after a year and a half! And a lot has happened in that time...but Frankie and Hobbes are still alive and well.**

 **I'm guessing most of you will get the references here, but if you youngins aren't sure what's happening I cordially invite you to do an internet search for "Clippy."**


End file.
